Columnist Mike Carlton has been sacked from The Sydney Morning Herald.

Sources have told the ABC that Mr Carlton refused to write his regular column for the paper's Saturday edition because of the current strike by journalists and editorial staff.

He was told that he would no longer be writing for the newspaper as a result.

Fairfax announced that it would cut 5 per cent of its work force on Tuesday, with a significant number of job losses to come from the editorial department.

Mr Carlton is the second casualty of the Fairfax move, with The Age editor-in-chief Andrew Jaspan losing his job earlier in the week.

Staff at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, the Illawarra Mercury and the Newcastle Herald walked off the job yesterday and say they will not go back to work until Monday.